the foul murder of the bearer, the Greek Phryxus; the second, The Argonauts, in four acts, contains so much of their celebrated expedition for revenge and the recovery of the fleece as had its scene in Colchis; and the third, in five acts, is in name and subject, the usual tragedy of Medea. "The work is written," said an early writer in the North American Review," in irregular verse with great freedom of spirit; full of action, though the leading incidents which form its material are so few; and full of the deepest interest, though these incidents are so familiar to us. The story is of the wildest and most revolting kind; yet it is so managed as never to disgust us, and scarcely to seem improbable. The characters are so true to nature that everything else seems natural. The Medea particularly is conceived and sketched in the happiest manner." THE PARTING OF JASON AND MEDEA. [A wild, solitary country, enclosed with trees and rocks. A cottage in view.] Peasant, entering.-How fair the morning rises! Gra cious gods! After the tempests of this dismal night Your sun lifts up himself with a new beauty. [Goes into the cottage.] Jason, coming feebly in, leaning on his sword.-I can no farther. Woe !-my head's on fire, My blood boils through its veins, my parched tongue stiffens. Is no one there? Must I die thus alone? Here is the hut, which used to give me shelter, I hither came, full of new wakened hopes. [Knocks.] VOL. XII.-5 Peasant, coming out.-Who knocks? Poor man, who art thou? Faint to death! Jason. Only one cup of water! I am Jason, The hero of the fleece a chief, a king, The Argonautic leader, Jason I ! Peasant. And art thou Jason? Then away with thee! Pollute my house not with thy hateful tread. Hast thou not slain the daughter of my king? Jason. He goes, and leaves me in the open way, [Sinks down.] [Medea advances from behind a rock, and stands before him, with the fleece thrown over her shoulders like a mantle.] Medea.-Jason! Jason, half raising himself.-Who calls? Ha! see I right? Thou there! Monster! Must I still have thee in my sight? My sword! my sword !-O wo is me! my limbs To bleed before another hand than thine. Jason. Where hast thou laid my children? Jason. Where hast thou laid them? Medea. They are in a place Where it is better with them, than with us. Medea. Thou think'st the worst thing death. Ours is the suffering, which our boys are saved from. Jason. Thou speak'st thus, standing calmly? Medea. Calmly Calmly! Were not my bosom still shut up to thee, As it has always been, thou would'st see anguish, Which rolling boundless, like a fiery sea, Medea.-Nay, bear what is laid upon thee, That I shall ever speak to thee, my husband. And be in suffering greater than in action. Bearing forth with me through the lone, wide world. My early years of life have made me worthy A better judge, than lost Medea is. I go to Delphos. At the fatal altar, Whence Phryxus bore the golden fleece away, Spared sacred even by the bloody flame, That folded round the form of Corinth's princess. In longer life to find but longer torture. Know'st thou the sign, for which thou hast so struggled, Which was thy glory, and which seemed thy good? What is the good of earth? A shadow ! What is the fame of earth? A dream! Thou poor man! who hast fondly dreamt of shadows! The dream is broken, but the night endures. Now I depart-Farewell, my husband! We who for misery found each other In misery separate. Farewell! Jason.-Alone! deserted! O my children! Jason. All lost! Medea.-Be patient! Jason.-O for death! Medea. Repent! I go-and ne'er again your eye beholds me! [As she turns to depart the curtain falls.] -From the Golden Fleece, FROTHINGHAM'S translation. GRIMM, JAKOB LUDWIG, and WILHELM KARL, German philologists and juvenile writers, born at Hanau, the former January 4, 1785, the latter February 24, 1786; both died in Berlin, Jakob on September 20, 1863, and Wilhelm, December 16, 1859. Jakob, the elder brother, studied law at the University of Marburg, and in 1814-15 was Secretary of Legation at the Congress of Vienna. From 1816 to 1830 he was Librarian at Cassel. In 1830 he became Professor at Göttingen, where he lectured upon the antiquities of the German language, literature, and law; but in 1837 he was removed from his professorship on account of his political opinions. In 1841 he was called to Berlin as member of the Academy of Sciences and as Professor. He took an important part in the political movements of 1848 and 1849, acting with the Moderate Liberal party. He wrote several works, the most important being, Ueber den Altdeutschen Meistersänger (1811); Deutsche Grammatik (4 vols., 1819-37); Deutsche Rechtsalterthümer (1828); Deutsch Mythologie (1835); Geschichte der Deutschen Sprache (1848), and Weisthümer, a collection of German proverbs (4 vols., 1840-53). Wilhelm, the younger brother, was first associated with Jakob at Cassel and at Göttingen, where he was made a Professor; and was also removed in 1837. He accompanied his brother to Berlin, |